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Monday, July 11, 2011

July 8, 2011: The Mercy Seat

Edit 07/06/2012: The Mercy Seat is now closed.

The veg*n grapevine is pretty amazing - it seemed like the news of The Mercy Seat's existence had hit Facebook before it had even opened its doors. Cindy gave them a few days to sort themselves out before heading in to meet me for a quick weekday lunch. The Mercy Seat occupies the daylight hours of the space that newish bar 99 Problems uses at night. It's all vegetarian, doing a short menu of breakfast and lunch dishes - think tofu scramble, bagels and burgers.

We sampled both their burgers: Creole soul chicken burger for Cindy ($10) and a blackened tofu mushroom burger for me ($12).

My burger was burstingly full with fried mushrooms, tofu cubes, salad, avocado and a smear of vegan mayo. The success of this burger is driven mostly by the wonderful Mexican salsa that the tofu is cooked in - there's a smoky spiciness to it that takes this from good to outstanding.

Cindy's chicken burger looked a bit less exciting to me - its centrepiece was a highly processed and perfectly round 'chicken' patty. Still, the Creole spices added a bit of spark and the house-made lime-infused vegan mayo didn't hurt either. Cindy enjoyed the sesame-seed heavy bun as well, but this couldn't live up to the spicy chicken burger standards set by The Gasometer (admittedly at a much higher price).

We were pretty impressed with The Mercy Seat - the food was tasty and affordable, the space is pleasant and the staff were friendly. There's lots of vegan options - everything on the menu bar the scrambled eggs is vegan or vegan-adaptable, as are most of the sweets, although there's nothing gluten-free at this stage. We'll be back for brekkie soon - the scrambled tofu and BLT bagel both sound worth a shot.

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I was sure we'd be first to review The Mercy Seat, but Vetti and Garden of Yoga were even quicker than us.

Accessibility: Flat entryway with a small step between the front room and the room with the counter (which is where you order and pay). It's fairly spacious and easy to get around, although we didn't suss out the bathroom situation.